As is usual for this time of the year, we can look forward to a good number of holiday-themed Cozies! Unsurprisingly (for December), most of these will be Christmas-themed holiday Cozies. But, this December we will also see an Oktoberfest Cozy and a Fourth of July Cozy. Hmmm… If you’re anything like me, you’ll be trying to make yourself wait to read those two non-Christmas Cozies until their appropriate seasons. However, lately it’s been getting harder and harder for me to hold off from reading them as they are released during the wrong holiday season!
First up is Amanda Carmack‘s Murder at Whitehall, the 4th in the Elizabethan Mystery Series. In this entry, Tudor-era Kate Haywood, personal musician to the queen, will not only need to use her professional skills to help entertain a number of visiting notable nobility in her official capacity, but also act unofficially to discover the identity of a blackmailer and also solve the murder of a visiting Spanish lord.
The next holiday Cozy up is Ornaments of Death, the 10th in Jane K. Cleland‘s Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery Series. This Christmas, Jane will be enjoying her holiday time in the coastal town of Rocky Point, New Hampshire, by hosting her annual holiday party. When a recently discovered relative (Ian) joins the party, she will need to solve the disappearance of not only Ian but also several priceless 17th century watercolor miniature portraits he had intended to give his daughter >>> and Josie’s good friend, Lavinia, is the most obvious culprit!
Next up will be The Iced Princess, the 2nd in Christine Husom‘s Snow Globe Shop Mystery Series. This book will continue the mystery solving adventures of Camryn Brooks, gift shop manager and snow globe workshop teacher. When a former high-school classmate asks for a job at least through the Christmas season, Camryn agrees to help her out despite the socialite not being exactly what she was hoping for in seasonal help. When Molly turns up dead in the shop, poisoned by a cup of coffee, Camryn feels responsible enough to help discover the culprit. Husom also writes the Winnebago County Mystery Series, a thriller series starring a deputy sheriff in Minnesota.
Another Christmas-themed Cozy coming out will be Sue Ann Jaffarian‘s The Ghost of Mistletoe Mary, a novella in the Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery Series. In this story, ghost Granny Apples and her descendant, medium Emma, will be asked by psychic private eye Jeremiah Jones to help look for a missing lady of the night – who a homeless man claims saw as a ghost recently. Is the woman dead, or merely missing? And can the trio find her before the end of the holiday season?
Joyce and Jim Lavene will be putting out Murder Fir Christmas, the 1st in the NEW Christmas Tree Valley Mystery Series. Since it is the first book in a new series, I’ve already discussed it in the New Cozy Series post (Two New Cozy Mystery Series Coming December 2015) for December. When Federal Wildlife Agent Bonnie Tuttle goes home to Christmas Tree Valley, Tennessee, to take over from agent Harvey Shelton, she’ll need to solve his mysterious death by shooting – especially surprising considering his body was also found in a fire. The Lavenes write many other series, including the Peggy Lee Garden Mystery Series, the Missing Pieces Mystery Series, and the Renaissance Faire Mystery Series, as well as other series under the pseudonyms Ellie Grant and J. J. Cook.
One of two non-Christmas themed mysteries coming out this December is Maddy Hunter‘s From Bad to Wurst, the 10th in the Passport to Peril Mystery Series, which is an Oktoberfest themed mystery. This Oktoberfest, tour leader Emily will need to help get the group’s travels back on track when a fellow guest at a famous German beer house turns up dead. But the tour must go on, and the situation continues to worsen when the group moves on to visit the scenic castle of Mad King Ludwig.
Finally we have the other non-Christmas mystery, Lea Wait‘s Thread and Gone, a Fourth of July themed Cozy which will be the 3rd in the Mainely Needlepoint Mystery Series. This summer, Angie is asked to look over an antique piece of needlepoint and learn what she can to determine its value and history. As it appears to be quite valuable, she asks her family lawyer to put it in his safe. When the lawyer turns up dead and the safe empty, she feels responsible, and is determined to both hunt down the killer and ensure that the valuable piece of needlework is returned to its rightful owner.
These and other holiday-themed Cozy Mysteries can be found on their appropriate holiday theme pages:
The following Mystery Books will be released in December 2015:
I have been busy reading Halloween Cozies. Even though I rarely re-read my Cozies, I decided I would read some of the Halloween Cozies I have read (and enjoyed) in the past, two of 